Issues: Smart Growth

Once There Were Greenfields by F. Kaid Benfield, Matthew D. Raimi and Donald D.T. Chen Excerpts | How to Order

"Urban sprawl" has moved front-and-center into the American consciousness, with voters all across the country saying yes to ballot initiatives that limit development and protect open space. But what do the newly-popular buzzwords of urban sprawl and smart growth actually mean?

Once There Were Greenfields: How Urban Sprawl Is Undermining America's Environment, Economy and Social Fabric, is the definitive book about sprawl, its impacts, and smart growth alternatives. The book, published in March 1999 by NRDC and the Surface Transportation Policy Project, is a meticulously researched and documented text about landscapes lost, traffic congested, air and water polluted, public health endangered, and a potential energy crisis that could make those of the 1970s look mild by comparison. It is about how nearly all of the positive strides that we have taken in improving our environmental quality could be overwhelmed if we do not change the way we grow.

The book is also a story about economic waste, rising taxes, and unfair burdens that dumb growth places on taxpayers and governments. And it is about the consequences for those left behind as we place more and more of our investment and energy in new places -- our vanishing "greenfields" -- rather than in the places where people already live. Finally, Once There Were Greenfields is a story about seeking progress and taking the necessary steps to regain the brighter side of the American Dream.

Once There Were Greenfields is designed to bridge the gap between popular books about sprawl that are not annotated in detail, and academic reports that are detailed but not placed in the larger context. The book is unique because it is easy to read, provides a complete picture of sprawl's impacts and is thoroughly documented with an extensive bibliography and 800 citations. As a result, it will be extremely useful for a wide variety of audiences ranging from policymakers and planners to academics to concerned citizens and community leaders.

Topics covered in Once There Were Greenfields:

• Spreading Out: The Facts Of Contemporary Development
• Paving Paradise: Sprawl and the Environment
• From Green to Red: The Fiscal Impacts of Sprawl
• There Go the Neighborhoods: Sprawl and the Quality of Life
• A Better Way: Visions of Smart Growth

To order Once There Were Greenfields by mail from NRDC's publications department, see our Publications List. If you'd rather shop online, you can order from Amazon.com (NRDC will receive 5% of the sale).

Once There Were Greenfields is a March 1999 publication of NRDC and the Surface Transportation Policy Project.

Related NRDC Pages
Paving Paradise (excerpts from Once There Were Greenfields)